Zenawi calls jailed Swedish journalists terror accomplices

New York, October 11, 2011--Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi's
public accusations on Monday against two imprisoned Swedish journalists
compromise the presumption of their innocence and predetermine the outcome of
their case, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today. The journalists
were arrested in Ethiopia
in July and charged with terrorism for associating with
armed separatists.

In July, Johan Persson and Martin Schibbye, contributors to the Sweden-based photo agency Kontinent, were arrested after they crossed with rebels of the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) into Ogaden, an oil-rich province where the media is barred independent access. Earlier this year, the Ethiopian government formally designated the ONLF a terrorist group under an anti-terrorism law. Under this 2009 law, journalists risk up to 20 years in prison if the government deems their reporting favorable to groups designated as terrorists. Both journalists were charged without their lawyers present, CPJ research shows.

In a Monday interview with Norwegian newspaper Aftenposten, Zenawi said Persson and Schibbye
were
accomplices to terrorists. "They are, at the very least, messenger boys of a
terrorist organization. They are not journalists," the prime minister said.
"Why would a journalist be involved with a terrorist organization and enter a
country with that terrorist organization, escorted by armed terrorists, and participate
in a fighting in which this terrorist organization was involved? If that is
journalism, I don't know what terrorism is."

Zenawi then singled out Persson, citing footage in a government-produced video released by authorities in July
in which the journalist is seen handling a weapon. "We have video clippings of
this journalist training with the rebels," the prime minister said. In the same
video, Schibbye is heard being told by Ethiopian security to say to the
camera, "We came to the Ogaden region to do interviews
with the ONLF," according to CPJ research.

"Since arresting Johan Persson and
Martin Schibbye, the Ethiopian government has compromised their fundamental
rights of defense--chiefly, the presumption of innocence--by portraying them in the
media as accomplices to terrorists, charging them with terrorism without the
presence of their lawyers, and making accusatory statements
against them, like those by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, which appear to
predetermine the outcome of their trial before it even starts," said CPJ Africa
Advocacy Coordinator Mohamed Keita. "We call on the Ethiopian judiciary to
guarantee both journalists a fair trial in what has become a politicized case."

In the interview, Zenawi called the
journalists' case "an issue of crime, an
ordinary criminal issue," and said, "Those who want to enter Ethiopia legally are not being
prevented from entering the country legally, including journalists." However,
media in Sweden
reported on Monday that not one
Swedish journalist who had applied for a visa to attend the journalists'
October 18 trial had been approved yet.

With eight
journalists behind bars, Ethiopia trails only Eritrea
as the foremost jailer of journalists in Africa, according to CPJ research. Ethiopia's
repression of the independent press has also driven into exile the largest
number of journalists in the world, according to a CPJ study. Yet Zenawi told Aftenposten that Ethiopia was "moving in the right
direction" in terms of human rights. "We have reached a very advanced stage of
rule of law and respect for human rights," he said. "Fundamentally, this is a
country where democratic rights of people are respected."